Attention all DIY's..... - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

70Sixter · 12-30-2005, 10:02 AM

Ordered from Amazon on 7 Dec, received 29 Dec. Altho their free USPS estimated delivery was 6 Jan 06. Worth the wait! Highly recommended.

rbennett · 12-30-2005, 10:28 AM

I posted this on another forum, sorry if you read it there, but it bears repeating here under "Attention DIY" since you all are more attentive to your Boxsters than the other place.
Swear it's a true story!

Thought I would share this near out of body experience with you all.

Read if you want to save some money! Sorry for it being long, but you need the full effect of the horror I suffered.

After finally taking the plunge and buying Litronic headlights for my 2000 MY Boxster, I awoke one Saturday all giddy about performing the new mod on my Porsche.

I grabbed the “Special Porsche Tool” to remove the headlight, believe me, there is nothing special about this “stamped from light gauge metal” tool as I was about to find out.

Will not bore you with the details on removal and installation of the Litronics, suffice to say, turn the tool until you hear the distinctive “POP” telling you that your headlights are now locked into the retaining bracket and your investment is “Home Now”.

After showing my wife the new face of my Porsche (she rolled her eyes and went inside), I fired it up and left for a short cruise over to buddy’s house to try and convince him to come out and marvel at them with me.

On my way there on a four lane thoroughfare, I was in the fast lane (where else) coming up to a yellow light applying breaks when I noticed one of the headlights starting to inch forward OUT OF THE CAR!!!

I panicked and gassed it (running a red light in the process) hoping G forces would prevent further forward motion of the headlight and not create a $600 torpedo across a busy intersection.

The next few minutes was very hectic, it ranged from not applying brakes, watching for a cop (the red light thing), coming up to the next NOW red light and trying to move over in heavy traffic to the slow lane so I could stop, but without applying brakes!. Sir Isaac Newton was driving the car at that point every action had an opposite and equal reaction, if you know what I mean!

Finally got over and finished pulling the headlight out and placed it in the passenger seat. I had to drive home with one headlight out of the car (Oooh the humility)

On the way back, I turned onto a two lane road trying to avoid ANYONE I knew and a Vette passed me in the opposite direction, he gave me a big thumbs up as he passed! Funny, I pass him every day, he never gives me the thumbs up???

Moral of the story, the distinctive “POP” was the stripped “Special Porsche Tool” as it lost traction and ratcheted over the cogs on the retaining bolt.

Use a socket from now on!

Regards

Adam · 12-30-2005, 04:33 PM

lol...that's a pretty funny story. I'm guessing the vette guy was making fun of the wounded boxster?

RandallNeighbour · 12-30-2005, 05:38 PM

RBennet, I laughed so hard I had to read it to my wife. Then she laughed hard too.

Just a month ago she rolled her eyes when I showed off my new litronics to her one Saturday morning...

And when I took my car to my mechanic to do the wiring to make them work on high beam, he told me one of them wasn't fully installed...

The same thing could have happened to me!

BTW - I could not find a socket to fit that recessed hole... the Porsche tool is really what one must use unless someone can tell me otherwise. it's cheap though, I'll give you that!

rbennett · 12-30-2005, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

RBennet, I laughed so hard I had to read it to my wife. Then she laughed hard too.

This is why I call myself the "The Rodney Dangerfield of Porsche mods" I swear evey mod I perform has a humiliating side effect.

You should here about the "Saturday morning Drilled Zimmerman Cadium plated rotors with Pagid pads mod" story.

I will post the socket size later.

Regards

rbennett · 01-02-2006, 11:54 AM

It's funny how our spouses and Porsches are engagded in this deadly embrace?

Just this morning I put the top up in "Sevice Position" to check around for things, nothing in particular, just wanted a look at the engine.

Nice and oil dry! but noticed alot of dust. Grabbed the vacum cleaner and with a glass of Pinot wine, started vacuming the dust off the engine, while I think it was "Jimmy Hendrix" playing on the radio.

Just as I started my wife came into the garage, I quickly put down the vacum cleaner hose, embarrased she would have the nerve to think I would vacum an engine of all things!

The following is a transcript from the conversation that ensued.

"Hi, what are you doing!" (her)
"Nothing honey, was just checking the oil" (me, she has no idea you check it from the back

"
"Why was the vacum cleaner running if that what you were doing?" (her)
"(Ok deep breath and think hard cause your about to impeach yourself here)" (me, thinking real hard)
"Well I was, of ,kinda......" (me)
" (STOP)" (her)
"You were VACUMING your ENGINE!!" (her)
"NO, there were leaves down around where you put oil in and I was just getting them out of the way" (me, I think I have her on the ropes now)
"Silence" (her)
"Hay whats for dinner?" (me, diversion tactics)

Regards

mjw930 · 01-02-2006, 12:28 PM

When I opened everything up to look at it and saw all the dust my wife was shocked that I put the covers back on WITHOUT detailing the motor

Ah, she knows me all too well.......

Tool Pants · 01-02-2006, 12:31 PM

I do not use the headlight tool because most of them are a sloppy fit. I use a 5 mm socket.

I ordered 2 copies of the Bentley manual and 2 other Boxster books on the the 28th and according to Amazon they should be here at the end of January. I have most of the factory manual which is about worthless for a DIYer. So I have waited almost 7 years for the aftermarket to do a better job, or at least I hope so. So when it gets here it gets here.

The extra copy is for Peter Smith. He was the PCA tech advisor for the Boxster, owns a Boxster, is the shop foreman at my local dealer, puts on Boxster tech sessions for us local owners, taught me everything I know, and so on. He was asked years ago to write a manual, but he did not have time (he also races) and he did not think there would be enough material for a DIYer book. He will find the bugs in the book.